Former Newsweek Exec to Steer Philadelphia Papers Under New Ownership

Greg Osberg, who served as president and publisher of Newsweek until 2008, has been tapped by the new owners of the Philadelphia newspapers to serve as publisher and C.E.O. of the papers’ parent company, according to Philly.com. Osberg is both a native of the Philly area and–unlike a certain New York Times publisher, who’s been known to employ the term “platform agnostic” on occasion–is evidently a believer in tailoring editorial to fit the medium.

As for content, he said he was looking for “a must read” delivered in varying forms for varying media. “Content has to be designed for the device that delivers it,” he said, meaning the content sent to mobile-phone users cannot simply be repackaged stories from the print editions.

The still-unnamed group of creditors purchased the Philadephia group of papers, which consists of The Inquirer, Daily News and Philly.com, for $139 million at auction on Wednesday. “I did not come here just to cut costs,” Osberg said. “The plan is for growth.”